Last week I was at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia and came across some beautiful farm eggs at an Amish farmer stand. Of course I couldn’t resist buying a dozen because common sense tells me to always trust a white-bearded farmer wearing a hat and suspenders. The thing is, with good eggs, there’s not too much you should do. Simple is best. In greengrocers’ and farmers’ markets around the country, signs of spring are all around so it was really a no-brainer to simply match them up with seasonal spring ingredients.

The arrival of fresh sweet peas, fava beans with their buttery texture and slightly bitter, nutty flavor and morels with their smoky and earthy tones is something I look forward to every year. They were sauteed in butter with shallots and finished cooking with the sunny-side-up egg. To make the flavors pop I made a basil puree and added a scoop of crème fraiche and some sun-dried tomatoes to the pan. Some cracked pepper and a sprinkle of fleur de sel to finish things up and let me tell you, this makes one fine week-end breakfast.

Farm egg with Morels, Peas, Crème Fraiche and Basil Purée

Serves 2

For the eggs:

4 fresh farm eggs

1 handful of fresh morels, cleaned

1 shallot, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup fresh peas, blanched

1/2 cup fresh fava beans, blanched

1 small bunch basil, leaves only, washed

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

4 or 5 sun-dried tomatoes, sliced

2 tablespoons crème fraiche

fleur de sel and freshly ground black pepper

For the eggs:

Bring a small pot of water to a boil and blanch the basil leaves for 15 seconds. Drain and cool in cold running water. Squeeze out the excess water. Place in a blender with the garlic clove. Season with salt and pepper and blend while adding the olive oil until you obtain a smooth puree. Add a few tablespoons of water if necessary.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and melt the butter. Add the morels and sautee until tender. Add the shallots and cook for 2 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper. Add the peas and fava beans and sautee for a minute. Break the eggs in a bowl and add them to the skillet. Cook until set, about 2 minutes. Add a few spoonfuls of basil puree and crème fraiche to the skillet and a few slices of sun-dried tomatoes. Season with fleur de sel and freshly ground black pepper and serve immediately, in the skillet, with slices of grilled country bread.

Wow, Reading Terminal Market brings back some memories of childhood! I make eggs like this most weekends – but the add-ins are not nearly as stunning – great combo!

http://twitter.com/MicaIvealis Mica Ivealis

As usual, wow. That is all. Never thought to combine pesto and eggs. Love love this.

Anonymous

Really nice. Good eggs have so much flavor! And fortunately they’re becoming reasonably easy to find (lots of people selling free-range eggs in farmer’s markets these days). And these always something about a sunny-side up egg that makes me smile. Super combination of flavors. Thanks for this.

Anonymous

Gorgeous!! I would’ve said for you to send me this when you lost your bet but i don’t think it’d hold up well in shipping to LA.

http://www.ouichefnetwork.com Oui, Chef

For the colors alone I would make this meal…absolutely stunning!

LP

That’s an interesting meal. I’m always a fan of unexpected ingredients coming together. It inspired me to look for other unexpected type meals like this one: http://bit.ly/Ik6HEy

Anonymous

Thank you! I really enjoyed visiting that market. Lots of delicious local foods.

Anonymous

Thank you, Mica. It’s a really nice combo.

Anonymous

Thank you! I’ve driven all the way to Pennsylvania once just to get farm fresh eggs. It was worth it.

Anonymous

I’ll just Fedex you the ingredients now that you have the recipe.

Anonymous

Zen breakfast of champions!

Anonymous

Did you notice that I like colorful food?

Yue Cheong

so much flavours with farm eggs! great

http://www.currylime.com/ amy@currylime

This looks so lovely!

Tasteslikehome

How can you torture someone like that with such an amazing pizza on Twitter? Have mercy I say

Gomo @ Chowdivine

The colors are so beautiful and inviting! Everything looks so fresh. Being Korean, I think a sunny-side up egg makes everything in life better. Call me crazy, but I’m dreaming of eating this with kimchi fried rice.

http://pickyin.blogspot.com Chang Pick Yin

The Chinese (or at least my mother’s generation) ate their fresh farm eggs by breaking it over a bowl of very hot, just cooked rice. A dash of pepper, some soy sauce and that’s it. Will be stealing your basil puree idea.

http://marcuskookt.blogspot.com/ marcus

aaah just some fresh grated ‘tartufo’ (truffle) on top!!!
great!

http://marcuskookt.blogspot.com/ marcus

aaah just some fresh grated ‘tartufo’ (truffle) on top!!!
great!

Anonymous

Can’t beat farm eggs.

Anonymous

Oh I love kimchi fried rice! My new (to me) favorite food. That would be perfect.

Anonymous

haha.. I made the pizza with the leftovers from this recipe. No mercy!

Anonymous

That’s the touch of the Master!

Anonymous

Sounds great to me! The French did the same over a bowl of French fries. Oh no, wait. They made mayonnaise with it.

Jasper Duba

I LOVE this pan you are using? I don’t think I have seen one this size with the flat welded handle. Can you tell me what it is?

Jasper Duba

I LOVE this pan you are using? I don’t think I have seen one this size with the flat welded handle. Can you tell me what it is?

Anonymous

It’s a blinis pan but I forgot where I got it. I’ve had it for a long time.

Charles

Waiting for fresh shelling peas here in Oregon. Spotted the Morels yesterday. Must do this! Thanks

Anonymous

You’re welcome. Enjoy the spring bounty!

Miss T

I love morels – so unusual!

http://www.tastewiththeeyes.com/ Lori Lynn

So beautifully spring-y.
Remember when sun-dried tomatoes were in everything a few decades ago? I need to use them more often.
LL

http://www.tastewiththeeyes.com/ Lori Lynn

So beautifully spring-y.
Remember when sun-dried tomatoes were in everything a few decades ago? I need to use them more often.
LL

DENNY

It looks like one BEVIS brother is trying to out cook the other one !!!!! Looks super. !!!!!!!